Rise of the Digi guardians
by archangel77
Summary: The background setting is in the introduction so for full detail check there. But to try and sum it up, it's been four years since Takato and the gang took down the D-reaper, and since then things have been pretty quiet. While it was strange, nobody seemed to really care, but now a new enemy has emerged, and they're going to need all the help they can get to take it down.
1. Intro

Four years had passed since the Tamers defeated the D-Reaper and restored peace to their world. At first the Digimon were sent back to the digital world, as they couldn't survive in the real world anymore, but with a little help from Yamaki and Janyu, they were able to make a few changes and allow it so that certain Digimon could reappear in the real world again. Of course the Tamers were ecstatic to be able to reunite with their friends without leaving the real world, because before this update was created they had to pass through a gateway to the digital world, and visit them there.

Takato was still Takato, goofy and nerdy, but he had matured a lot in four years. After being turned down by Jeri he tried to get closer to Rika, but she made it perfectly clear that she wanted nothing to do with a boyfriend. But that was four years ago, maybe she changed her mind? Either way, he learned to stand up for himself, and others with more confidence. He could speak his mind without caring if he sounded stupid or not. He was able to make better decisions and he actually became really good at the card game, almost putting Rika in her place once. Key words, almost. Once.

Speaking of the Digimon Queen, Rika herself had grown to be quite the woman. Her icy shell had melted and she was actually a nice person, well to everybody but gogglehead and the wonder twin bozo's. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't believe that some people could be so…stupid. Takato is bearable, but the other two…she still wondered how they even became tamers in the first place. Nevertheless, she had still changed from the girl she used to be. She even got her mom to agree to let her go to the same high school as her friends instead of some private one.

Last but not least, there's Henry. He had toughened up a bit, well enough to be intimidating to the other kids that were in Suzy's class. So in a way he really hadn't changed, but that's not always a bad thing. He was happy with his life. If he could change anything though, it would be giving Terriermon a smaller mouth. For being a little bunny, he sure had a big mouth. No secret was safe around him. Henry learned that the hard way.

All was peaceful for a long time, until one night when their D-Arcs started acting very strange. Unable to resist the strange calling, the Tamers investigate the source that's making their D-Arcs act so crazy. When they find what they're looking they, then end up finding themselves in a situation that they could never have seen coming.

Digimon

Rise of the Digi Guardians

*Note* pairings in this story will be announced in the chapter that the characters appear in as to not give away spoilers. Most of the information stated in this story will be based on what occurred in the English animes, but there may be some small personal alterations. Nothing big I assure, but if something doesn't add up, I'm telling you now it's intentional. Also, I will refer to Digimon often as having genders, calling Renamon a she, and Guilmon a he or whatever the case may be. (See that, I got rhymes :P) Other than that, I wish you all a happy reading! Reviews are always helpful and I do take opinions into consideration when writing. I don't own anything of Digimon. All credit is given to proper owners and creators.


	2. Chapter 1 Just like old times

Chapter one

Just like old times

"Crap crap crap crap crap!" A voice was shouting frantically. A rumble of footsteps could be heard racing down the stairs as his voice echoed throughout the buildings. He raced into the kitchen door, stopping at a counter to shove a loaf of bread in his mouth.

"Takato! Are you running late for school again?!" His mother shouted at him as she watched him cram as much bread in his mouth as he could. After his mouth was full, he ran out the front door, waving goodbye to his mom. "Takato! Takato!" His mother yelled after him, but he was already gone. She sighed and placed her hands on her hips, but she did let a small smile slip across her face.

"Some kids never grow up," Takato's father, Takehiro, said, placing his hands upon his wife's shoulders. He too smiled as they watched their son race down the street to school. He was wearing a solid white shirt with a picture of a black sword on the front, along with a pair of camouflage cargo shorts. He carried his D-Ark with him, hooking it onto his black belt that went around his shorts. He hasn't had to use it in a long time, but still he had it with him every day. Probably the thing that stuck out most though, was the pair of small goggles he wore on his head. He never took them off except to shower and when he went to sleep, because to him, they were a solid reminder of his past. His parents, and teachers, have been trying for about a year now to get him to take them off, but to no avail.

As Takato kept running, he could hear the sound of bigger footsteps beside him, and the occasional pant.

"Takatomon, why are we running so fast?" A childish like voice asked. Takato wasn't even thinking about who it was when he answered.

"Because if I'm late to school again I'll be in huge trouble for s- wait, Guilmon?!" He stopped his sentence, but not his feet. The red dinosaur like Digimon smiled happily and waved his claw at Takato.

"Guilmon what are you doing here?! You know better than to follow me to school! Go back to the park with Renamon and Terriermon!"

"I'm sorry Takato, but I could smell the bread and my stomach took over." Takato now stopped running so his Digimon partner could catch up to him. He let out a small chuckle as he reached into his backpack.

"You and your stomach Guilmon…" He laughed as he searched through his backpack. Guilmon waited patiently as Takato soon started to frantically search around his backpack.

"Is something wrong Takato?" Guilmon asked, cocking his head. Takato sighed as he zipped up his backpack.

"Sorry Guilmon, I was in such a hurry I forgot to put some bread in my backpack. I'll bring you some after school though okay? I promise." Takato placed his hand on Guilmon's nose and smiled at him.

"You promise? Well okay, but don't forget!" Guilmon smiled playfully as he went to turn around. Before he took off, he stuck his nose in the air and sniffed a couple times, but then soon covered up his nose with his claws. Takato watched as he did, and then he too sniffed the air, but he didn't smell anything.

"What is it boy? What do you smell?" Takato asked curiously.

"Ugh..it smells like your mothers garden," Guilmon stepped backwards trying not to breathe through his nose. For some reason Guilmon didn't like the smell of tulips or roses, he didn't know why but something about them just gave off a disgusting sent. Takato looked around, but he failed to see any flowers anywhere, besides a few dandelions that were sprouting out of small cracks in the sidewalk.

"Gogglehead!" A voice shouted in the distance. Takato turned his head to find Rika running down the sidewalk, faster than he had run earlier. He smiled and waved his hand at her. Rika was still wearing her hair up, but her outfit had changed a little. Her shirt was now a light purple with a white center. In the middle was a picture of her trademarked broken heart. She was still rather fond of the design, and her taste of clothes hadn't changed much either. She still wore a pair of jeans, but they were tight around her body, making sure to show off her curves that she had developed.

"Hey Rika," Takato said, trying very hard not to stare. She stopped running when she caught up to him, and took in a few deep breaths. As she came to a halt Takato could smell the scent she was carrying with her. It smelled like Roses. And Tulips. It wasn't a bad smell…but it was rather…unpleasant. Takato let out a cough as he took a step away from her.

"What is that you're wearing Rika? *cough* ugh it smells-" Rika cut him off before he could finish.

"Awful? Yeah I know. My mother wouldn't let me leave the house until I, quote, 'smelled like a lady'"

"Of all the things you smell like, a lady is towards the bottom of the list," Takato joked as he smiled at her. She returned his smile with a glare that felt like it was piercing his body.

"Can it gogglehead." She grunted. After a few more seconds of laughter, Takato invited Rika along with him since they were both going to the same place. Guilmon waved goodbye to Takato and Rika, and headed off back towards the park as they headed for the school.

"I'm surprised to see you this late, normally you're one of the first people at the school. How come you're running so late?" Rika paused for a second, and then reached into her backpack. She pulled out her D-Arc and showed it to Takato. The screen was going haywire, and it kept making a lot of beeping sounds.

"My Digivice started acting really weird, and I lost track of time when I was messing around with it. I can't get it to shut up; it's starting to get worse than Kazu." Takato let out a chuckle.

"I see Kazu is still persistent as ever, but you're right, your Digivice is acting weird." He paused and unhooked his Digivice from his belt. He looked at it, but his was perfectly normal. "I wonder what's wrong with it…how long has it been doing this?"

"It just started this morning. It was fine last night when I went to sleep, but when I woke up it was beeping and firing off numbers on the screen like a super computer. The numbers are going by so fast I can hardly tell what they are."

"Maybe after class we shou-" he was cut off by the sound of a bell ringing in the distance. They both had been caught up with talking to each other, that they forgot about school. They both looked to where the sound came from with panicked expressions.

"Crap!" They both shouted in unison. They bolted down the sidewalk as fast as they could, praying that the teacher would have mercy on them. Rika should be okay since she was a straight A student, and was always on time for every class, but Takato on the other hand…well, you know how Takato is. There are some things that not even four years can change.

They stormed into the school building after a few minutes, and charged their way to their classroom. They paused outside their classroom to catch their breath for a second. Rika let out a deep sigh, and then placed her hand on the classroom door. She looked to Takato, and he nodded his head. He gulped down some air, and stepped behind Rika as they entered the classroom. As she opened the door and stepped inside, all eyes were shifted from the teacher to her.

"Ahhh, miss Nonaka, so nice of you to join us. Oh? And is that Mr. Matsuki behind you?" The teacher looked at her, raising an eyebrow. The rest of the class let out a small chuckle as the two walked in embarrassed.

"Sorry we're late Mr. Kosaka," They both bowed their heads before approaching his desk.

"Miss Nonaka this is your first offense, so I'll let you off with a warning, but you Mr Matsuki… How many times is it going to take before you learn to get to class on time?" Takato stumbled over his words as he tried to respond.

"I'm sorry teacher, I mean sir, I mean, well uhm you see what happened was-"

"It was my fault he was late." Rika stepped forward next to Takato. The teacher switched his eyes from Takato to Rika. "He would have been here on time, but I asked him for help with something, so it's not his fault." Rika knew she would regret taking the fall for Takato, but this just meant she had something to hold against him. The teacher sighed before he spoke.

"No detention, _this time_, but do not let this happen again. Am I clear?" The two nodded their heads.

"Yes Mr. Kosaka," They said in unison. He looked into both their eyes once again.

"Good. Now then, take a seat and join the rest of us on page 178." He made his way to the whiteboard, and began to scribble some things down as Takato and Rika went back to their seats. As they were walking back, Kazu leaned over to Kenta and whispered something.

"Man, Takato is so lucky. I bet him and Rika were totally making out," Kazu whispered with a hint of anger in his voice. Kenta laughed at Kazu's jealousy.

"Anytime you see them together you always think they are or have been making out. One of these times that's going to be the reason and you're going to-"

"Shhhh! Shut up Kenta! Don't speak such things!" Kenta laughed as Kazu turned back to the front of the room. Ever since they had joined the group as Tamers, Kazu slowly started to develop a huge crush on Rika, but sometimes he gets carried away. Even though he's been shot down more times than a Numemon, he still tries to win her over.

Classes went by quickly, and soon it was the last one of the day. It was halfway over, and Takato had already started to space out. He was reminiscing previous battles that he had fought in with Guilmon, and thinking of different ways things could have played out. Henry, who sat right behind him, could see that he wasn't focused at all. He kicked the back of Takato's chair, snapping him back to reality.

"Earth to Takato, come in Takato." Henry poked fun at Takato, chuckling a little. Takato blinked a couple times and shook his head, he must've really been out of it this time.

"Huh, wha? Oh. Hi Henry." He said casually. He turned and waved, but only for a second. He didn't need to get into any more trouble today.

"Are you okay Takato? You seemed really out of it today, more than usual."

"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking about the past."

"Well don't think to much, it's dangerous." Henry laughed, as did Takato. Before Takato could respond a very high pitched ring filled the air. The ring only lasted a couple seconds, but it was long enough for all the kids to drop their pencils and cover their ears, Takato and Henry included.

"Owwww! What was that noise?" Takato asked, looking around the room. Henry scanned the room as well, when he noticed Rika searching through her backpack. She pulled out her Digivice, and gave it a smack.

"Look Takato, it's Rika's Digivice," Henry whispered to him.

"Thanks captain obvious, would you like your medal now or later?"

"I mean it's her Digivice that made that awful noise." Takato glanced at Rika, then back to Henry. Rika was going to put it back, when it let out another awful shrieking noise. Everybody covered their ears again.

"How do you know?"

"Because earlier mine made the exact same sound. I left mine with my dad to see if he could figure out what was wrong with it." Rika stood up out of her seat, and threw her backpack around her shoulder. She kept hitting her Digivice as she bolted out of the class room.

"Miss Nonaka!" The teacher yelled out after her. Henry was next to stand up. He grabbed his stuff and followed Rika out the door. Takato was right behind him.

"Mr. Wong! Mr. Matsuki!" They paid no attention to their teacher's shouts as they followed Rika.

"Rika wait up!" Henry shouted out after her. Rika stopped in the hallway and turned to Henry and Takato. When they caught up with her, Rika had a very pissed off expression on her face.

"What the hell is wrong with this thing?! First with the numbers, then the beeping, now the screeching? It just keeps getting better and better!" Rika yelled.

"Calm down Rika, mine's been doing the same thing. My father is looking into it right now, so why don't we head to my house and see if he's come up with anything." Rika looked at Henry like he was stupid.

"And skip class? Yeah right!" Rika shouted at him.

"Aren't you the one who ran out in the first place..?" Takato piped up quietly. Rika shot him another death glare. "Yeah yeah can it gogglehead, I know the drill." Takato quieted back down.

"Class is almost over anyways, we can just say it was an emergency, besides we- oww!" Henry threw his hands over his ears as Rika's Digivice let out another shriek. The high pitched tone was becoming louder each time it went off.

"On second thought, let's go," Rika said, throwing her Digivice into her pants pocket. The sound was muffled, but only slightly. There was still a feint ring filling the air, but it wasn't as bad. Rika started to make her way to the front doors of the school, with Henry and Takato following close behind her. When they stepped outside, they were surprised to see Guilmon, Renamon, and Terriermon standing across the street, waiting for them.

"Guilmon?"

"Renamon?"

"Terriermon?" The three of them spoke as they stared across the street at their partners. Something was different about them though. Guilmon was crouched in a pouncing like position, letting out a growling sound towards the three of them. His eyes were focused on them, and it looked like his pupil had shrunken three sizes. Terriermon's ears were floating up in the air, and he had his fists up like he was waiting to through a punch. Renamon kept her eyes locked on them, her fur on her chest was sticking out more than usual.

"What's the matter with them? They look like they're about to attack something!" Henry shouted. Rika took a step forward, and shouted to Renamon.

"What's the matter Renamon?"

"Something's coming." Renamon replied firmly. Rika pulled out her Digivice, expecting to try and see if she could get a read on any nearby Digimon, but it wasn't until after she looked at it she remembered it was acting weird. The Digimon tensed up even more as she pulled it out.

"I can't look to see if there's anything out there, this stupid thing still isn't working." Rika said annoyed.

"I don't even have mine, but even if I did, it'd be as helpful as yours," Henry added. Rika turned towards Takato.

"Hey goggles, your Digivice isn't having any problems right?"

"You know Rika, I have a name."

"Now is not the time!"

"Alright alright, geesh." Takato pulled out his Digivice and scanned the area. They all jumped a little when they noticed a massive red dot coming from the park.

"Wh- what is that?" Rika asked nervously.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is…it's huge!" Henry replied.

"Takato…we need to go," Guilmon growled from across the street. Renamon and Terriermon nodded their heads in agreement. Takato slid his Digivice back onto his belt, and ran across the street to reunite with Guilmon. Henry and Rika did the same. Once they were all together, they began to run to where the red dot was located. All of the Digimon began to pick up the pace as they got closer to whatever was waiting for them. As they got closer and closer to the park, a deep fog began to surround them. Takato slid down the goggles that were on his head so they were over his eyes. Rika pulled out a pair of glasses, as did Henry.

"Boy does this bring back memories," Takato said happily as he continued to run after Guilmon and the others.

"Just like old times," Henry replied smiling as well.

"It's about time. It was starting to get boring around here," Rika added. Before they could continue their conversation, all of the Digimon stopped. They had run to the center of the park, near the fountain. The Digimon braced themselves as they started into the fog. The Tamers followed the Digimon's line of sight, but didn't see anything. After a couple seconds though, they could make out some kind of figure walking towards them. Guilmon started to growl intensely at whatever was walking towards them. Even Renamon and Terriermon let out a small growl. It's yellow eyes pierced through the thickness of the fog with ease, and it was looking right at them.

"Oh shoot!" Henry said.

"What's wrong?" Takato asked.

"I don't have my Digivice, which means I can't biomerge! I'll have to run and go get it!" Henry turned and ran without giving the others a chance to respond.

"Henry wait!" Takato yelled after him. It was too late, he was already gone.

"It's coming!" Guilmon shouted. Guilmon quickly hopped out of the way to avoid a sword that had been sent flying towards him. The sword pierced into a rock, revealing a heart on the handle.

"So you're the newest targets huh?" The voice said. It was a very light sounding voice, but something about it sounded evil. As the figure began to become clearer, another sword was thrown, this time at Renamon. Renamon avoided it, but a few pieces of fur were cut off as the sword flew past her arm, and into the tree behind her. This sword had a diamond on the handle of it. "I've been given another chance, and this time I will not lose to a bunch of kids and their pet Digimon!" As the Digimon behind the voice stepped out of the fog, Takato couldn't help but step back in fear.

Henry ran as fast as he could back to his house, but it seemed like his feet couldn't move fast enough.

"_Why didn't I bring my bike?_" He thought to himself as he bolted across the streets of the Shinjuku district. His house wasn't too far from where he was, but given the situation it felt like it was miles away. He kept taking glances behind him, and could see that the fog was slowly starting to spread. He hoped that whatever was in there, the others could hold it off until he got back. He felt bad for just taking off and leaving them like that, especially bad for leaving Terriermon, but without his Digivice, there's nothing he could do.

As time went on, seconds felt like minuets, minuets felt like hours, but soon enough Henry made it home. He slammed open the front door, and ran into his father's room. He was panting heavily because he was out of breath.

"Dad!" He yelled, throwing his hands on his knees. Janyu looked to his son, and watched as he continued to pant.

"Are you okay Henry?" He asked concerned.

"I'm fine, I just need my Digivice," Henry replied.

"That reminds me! There's something I need to show you."

"Can it wait dad? My friends need me right now!"

"This is important Henry," Janyu looked into his son's eyes, and Henry could tell he was serious. Henry nodded his head, and walked up behind his father.

"I hooked up your Digivice to the computer to try and get a better look at its data programing, when I stumbled across this," Janyu stopped when he came across a certain file hidden in the numbers. When he clicked on the file, it opened up, revealing an AI program inside.

"Is that..?!" Henry asked, his eyes widening.

"Yes. It's the same AI program that we used when we created the Digimon. Something inside these Digivices has a mind of its own." Henry took a step backwards. "But that's not all. Look at this." He moved the mouse cursor around, and pulled up a number sequence. The numbers were moving extremely fast, just like that had been earlier.

"I'm looking but it's all moving so fast, I can't see anything," Henry said, getting closer to the computer.

"That's what I thought at first as well, but look here. You see how all these numbers are green? Well if you look close, occasionally you can see a black number slipping by in the series. From what I've observed, I'm thinking that the Digivice has a virus inside it."

"A virus?! How in the world can a Digivice get a virus?!"

"I'm not sure to tell you the truth…but I'm thinking that those awful shrieking noises you hear is the Digivice's way of crying out in pain. The virus is attacking it, and it's crying out. The numbers are moving so fast because it's constantly trying to write a new program to kick the virus out but the virus is moving to quickly. I'm not sure what's going on with it, but I would be careful when you use it. I don't recommend biomerging while it's like this, who knows what could happen." Janyu unhooked the Digivice from the computer, and handed it to Henry.

"Thanks dad, you're the best." Henry grabbed his Digivice and ran back out of the room.

"Hey wait! Did you run here?" His father asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Here," Janyu reached into his coat pocket and tossed Henry a set of keys. Upon closer inspection he realized that they were car keys. "Don't tell your mother." Janyu smiled as Henry gave him a hug. After the hug was over, Henry set out once again. "Be careful!" Janyu yelled out after him. Henry ran back out of his house, and down to the family car. He got inside, and started it up, squealing the tires as he backed out of the drive way. He slammed his foot on the gas, and took of back towards the park.

"_Hang on guys, I'm coming_," He thought as he drove down the street.

"What's the matter little boy? Don't you like magic tricks? Ha ha ha!" The voice laughed evilly. Rika looked over to Takato who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Earth to gogglehead! What's the matter with you?" She yelled at him. Takato snapped back to reality and looked back at her.

"You don't know who that Digimon is?" Rika looked at the evil Digimon that stood before them. She shook her head.

"Not everybody is as big of a Digidork as you are. Well, don't leave me hanging, who is this clown?" Takato turned back towards the Digimon.

"Piedmon." Piedmon stepped towards them, wielding two more swords in his hands. One of them with a club handle, one of them with a spade.

"You say that like I should be scared or something," She paused and looked away from Takato and turned her attention to her partner. "Renamon, walk all over him."

"It'll be my pleasure," Renamon replied. Renamon jumped into the air, and held up her paws. "Diamond storm!" Renamon shouted. Hundreds of small sharp diamond shaped crystals appeared in front of her, and launched themselves at Piedmon.

"Help her out Guilmon! Go get him!" Takato yelled.

"Whatever you say Takatomon," Guilmon replied. "Pyro sphere!" Guilmon yelled, shooting a ball of fire at Piedmon. Both the pyro sphere and diamond storm attacks hit Piedmon directly, but all it did was turn his smile into a frown.

"Annoying little pests. Be gone! Trump Sword!" He threw the two swords from his hands, this time they connected with their target, sending Renamon and Guilmon flying.

"Guilmon!"

"Renamon!" Takato and Rika yelled.

"Hey, don't forget about me you circus reject!" Terriermon yelled, jumping into the face of Piedmon. "Bunny blast!" He yelled, firing a green energy blast at him. The attack was about as effective as the others. Piedmon smacked Terriermon away with a swipe of his hand, and sent him flying into the stomach of Guilmon.

"For being a clown, you're not very funny," Terriermon mumbled, dazed from the hit.

"Ha ha ha! Oh please tell me that there's more than that! If not I will be very disappointed. Here I was thinking that you little twerps would put up a good fight, but I guess your friend here might've been a better challenge after all." Piedmon laughed as he twirled two keychains around his index finger.

"Th- That can't be!" Takato had a very cold chill run down his spine.

"N- No way…" Rika mumbled as she looked in disbelief. Twirling around his finger were two keychains shaped like Ryo and Cyberdramon.

"Don't look so sad, you'll be joining him shortly." Piedmon smirked as he placed the Ryo and Cyberdramon keychains around his waist.

"There's no way we're letting you take us without a fight! And once we beat you back to whatever evil twisted world you came from, we'll get our friends back to normal!" Takato shouted, pulling out his Digivice. "Rika, you ready?" He glanced over at Rika, who had pulled out her Digivice as well.

"Oh yeah," She replied with confidence. As they got ready to hold up their Digivice's to biomerge, they were interrupted by a car driving through the front gates to the park. The car drifted around a corner, and came to a stop only a few feet away from Takato. Henry quickly popped out of the car.

"Wait! Don't biomerge! Something's wrong with the Digivice!" Takato and Rika lowered their Digivices as they looked at Henry.

"What do you mean something's wrong?" Takato asked.

"I'm not sure but my dad thinks that their infected with a virus. I can explain the details later, but right now the point I'm trying to make is that biomerging now could be very dangerous!"

"Well we have to do something! Their sitting ducks out there!" Rika yelled. Henry looked to the battlefield; it was the first time he had seen what they were up against.

"Is that Piedmon?!" He asked nervously.

"Yeah, it is. And he has Ryo and Cyberdramon! He turned them into keychains and is wearing them around his waist." Takato replied. Henry shifted his eyes from Piedmon to the injured Digimon trio that was struggling to get up, even though they had only been hit by one attack.

"What happened?"

"He's taken a total of five steps and has trashed our Digimon. He's way to powerful to fight as a rookie, they need to digivolve!"

"Screw that, we need to biomerge!" Rika butted in.

"No! My dad said it's too dangerous!"

"What choice do we have Henry?! Piedmon is a mega level Digimon! Ultimate isn't going to be enough; we need to fight fire with fire!"

"_Rika's right, ultimate won't be enough…but…is it worth the risk? She has a point, what choice do we have?_" Henry thought as he looked from Rika back to Piedmon.

"I'm not waiting any longer, Renamon, let's do this! Biomerge activate!"

BIOMERGE

DIGIVOLUTION

"Renamon biomerge to…" Renamon's voice dragged out as her and Rika began to merge. "Sakuyamon!"

Piedmon let out a laugh as the newly formed mega stepped onto the battlefield.

"Finally! I was wondering how long it would take! What's the matter, your friends to scared to fight? They had to send in the girl? No matter, you'll all be keychains for my collection soon enough!" Piedmon took a step forward, after calling all of his swords back to him.

"Do you feel okay Renamon?" Rika asked from inside her bubble inside Sakuyamon. (I don't care what you say, that's what I'm going to call it. It's not a sphere, it's not a data ball, it's a bubble.)

"Like a basket of roses." Renamon replied.

"Well, well, well. It's about time Rika Nonaka." A voice echoed inside the body of Sakuyamon. Rika looked around, and soon she met eyes with some kind of small Digimon. It was a Keramon. Rika looked at it confused for a second, but then soon realized what it was.

"The virus! You're the virus that's inside the Digivice!"

"Aren't you a fast learner, I must say I'm impressed."

"What are you doing here?!"

"That's for me to know, and for you to-" The Keramon was cut short by somebody delivering a kick to the face. The impact sent the Keramon flying into the digital wall that made up Sakuyamon's body. The Keramon vanquished into data instantly after crashing into the digital wall. Standing in its place, was what looked like a boy no older than she was. He had short brown hair, and solid blue eyes. He was wearing a white T-shirt that had a shield on the front, along with a pair of regular blue jeans. He also had a pair of goggles on his head.

"Oh great, more surprises. Renamon, do you know what's going on?"

"I can't say that I do Rika. I'm as clueless as you are."

"Wonderful. So answer me, who are you?" The boy turned to Rika with a smile on his face.

"The sexiest looking antibody you'll ever meet." He shot a wink to Rika before taking off again. He disappeared as quickly as he showed up, but the impact of him kicking another Keramon echoed throughout Rika's bubble. Rika blushed out of embarrassment of what she had just heard, but then she felt a strong pain in her stomach. She was too busy focusing on what was going on in the inside, that she completely forgot about what was happening on the outside. Piedmon delivered a crushing kick to the stomach of Sakuyamon, sending her flying through the air.

"Oh no! Rika!" Takato took off running towards Sakuyamon. "I'm sorry Henry! Let's go Guilmon! Biomerge activate!"

BIOMERGE

DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon biomerge to…" Just as Renamon did, his voice dragged out as he merged with Takato. "Gallantmon!"

"I'm going to regret this… Terriermon it's our turn! Biomerge activate!

BIOMERGE

DIGIVOLUTION

"Terriermon biomerge to...MegaGargomon!"

Gallantmon rushed as quick as he could, and caught Sakuyamon in his arms before she hit the ground.

"Gotcha," Gallantmon said, placing Sakuyamon on her feet.

"Thanks gogglehead," Rika said smiling. "Alright Renamon, we can worry about Prince Charming later, right now let's focus on taking down this clown!"

"But Rika I thought Gallantmon was on our side." Rika chuckled a little.

"I could hug you right now Renamon." Rika continued to laugh.

"Hey! I'm right here you know!" Gallantmon yelled. Sakuyamon leaped off the ground and towards Piedmon, who was currently fighting MegaGargomon.

"Yes! There we go! Now the fun can really begin! Take this, Trump Sword!" He threw his swords at MegaGargomon, but they just bounced off his metal exterior like they were nothing. "I really didn't think that one through, did I…" Piedmon mumbled. He was punished by a kick from MegaGargomon, sending him flying towards Sakuyamon.

"Time to return the favor! Heads up gogglehead!" Sakuyamon yelled as she planted her foot into the chest of Piedmon, now sending him towards Gallantmon.

"No problem. Shield of the just!" Gallantmon raised his shield as it began to charge. Once it was at max, it began to glow white. It blasted out an intense laser from the shield, and it clashed into Piedmon, a direct hit. Piedmon fell to the ground, his data flickering. His time was running short.

"Now Diaboromon!" Piedmon yelled.

"Did he just say…Diaboromon?" Henry asked.

"That's what I heard." Rika replied. The low tone of Diaboromon echoed throughout the park as he let out an evil laugh. The three Tamers regrouped together near the entrance to the park, and watched as Piedmon slowly picked himself back up.

"Quick! Let's finish this before he gets away!" Takato yelled.

"I'm with you on that," Henry replied.

"Count me in!" Rika added.

"Alright, on three! One! Two! Thr-" Before he could finish a huge electrical surge went racing through his body. "Ahhhh!" He yelled out in pain.

"Gallantmo- Ahhhh!" Henry too now started to feel the same kind of pain.

"Henry! Taka- Ahhh!" Rika was next to feel this pain. The three Tamers fell to the ground, powerless to fight whatever was attacking them. Soon, their bodies split from their mega forms back to their two separate bodies. Three individual cocoons of data were left from where there mega forms once stood. Takato, Henry, and Rika pulled themselves up and watched as the data around the cocoons slowly started to fade away, revealing something inside. From Sakuyamon's data now stood a Black Renamon. From Gallantmon's data, a Black Guilmon. And From MegaGargomon's data, a black Terriermon. Black Renamon had black fur with a white chest. Black Guilmon had black skin, with a white belly and red stripes in place of black ones. Black Terriermon had black skin, and still had the green stripes on his ears and chest.

"Wh- what are those things?" Takato asked, picking up Guilmon from the ground. Henry held Terriermon in his arms as he looked at the three black versions of their partners. Rika helped Renamon to her feet as well as she too looked at the three black Digimon that stood before them.

"Ha ha ha! You fools! You walked right into our trap! Honestly you should listen to your friend next time! Do you think I would honestly just stand there and let you biomerge if I didn't have a plan?" Piedmon laughed at them.

"Now that you mention it, he did do a lot of just standing there, even after we biomerged…if he wanted us gone he would have done it while they were still in rookie form. He wanted us to biomerge!" Henry shouted.

"Now Diaboromon, let's show them our little trick shall we?" Piedmon jumped back away from the three black Digimon.

"Viomerge…activate…" Diaboromon grumbled in his low tone.

"What did he say?" Rika asked.

"Did he say, VIOmerge?" Henry asked as well.

"Black Renamon viomerge to…Kuzuhamon."

"Black Guilmon viomerge to…ChaosGallantmon."

"Black Terriermon viomerge to…Cherubimon." A shockwave of energy was sent out by all three of them digivolving. The power they were sending out was insane, they could probably destroy the city on one swing if they wanted too. As the three black megas approached the Tamers, a voice called out to Piedmon.

"Piedmon…Diaboromon…the time is near. Return at once." The voice was low like Diaboromon's, but not as bad. Piedmon looked around, and then smirked.

"Looks like you kids lucked out this time. But I'll be back, I promise you that, and next time, you won't be so lucky. Ha ha ha ha ha!" Piedmon laughed evilly as he, the three black megas, and Diaboromon started to disappear. He was twirling the Ryo and Cyberdramon keychains around his finger again, and then after a few seconds they vanished completely, and the fog was lifted.

"What…just happened?" Takato asked dumbfounded.

"I'm…not sure." Rika admitted. "Henry?"

"I have no idea. But whatever happened, one thing is for sure. It can't be good."


	3. Chapter 2 A breath of life

Chapter two

A breath of life

"Takato I'm hungry," Guilmon whined as he placed his claws on his stomach.

"Guilmon, you're always hungry," Takato replied laughing. The Tamers had moved themselves from the park, and were currently sitting in the car Henry was driving. Takato, Guilmon, Rika, and Renamon all squished together in the backseat because for some reason Terriermon thought he needed the entire front seat to himself, even though he's the smallest one.

"Takato you promised you'd give me bread."

"I know Guilmon, but first we need to check in with Henry's dad to see if he can help us figure out what's going on." Takato patted Guilmon on the nose, and then turned his attention to Rika who was staring blankly out the window. "Rika, are you okay?" Henry looked into the rearview mirror of the car and took a look at Rika.

"Huh? Yeah I'm fine. Although…there is something that's on my mind."

"And what's that?"

"When you guys were biomerged did you see anything…strange?"

"Strange?" Takato cocked his head in confusion. "Like what?"

"Maybe I'm just going crazy, but when I was biomerged with Renamon there were a bunch of Keramon inside our body, but they were being kicked around by some boy who thinks he's a hotshot."

"Keramon?" Henry asked.

"Some boy?" Takato asked as well.

"As hard as it is to believe, she's telling the truth," Renamon spoke up.

"I think the Keramon were acting as the virus attacking our Digivices. When I biomerged one of them talked to me, but didn't say anything useful. The conversation didn't last long, because after a few seconds some boy came crashing in, and kicked the Keramon right back into data."

"That doesn't make any sense…well maybe the part about the Keramon, but how did some random bo-" Henry stopped himself. "Wait a second…Rika! Did the boy say anything to you?" Rika started to blush again as she rested her face on the car window.

"You want exact words?"

"That would be helpful." Rika sighed as she told them what he had said.

"Eh…when I asked him who he was…he replied, 'the sexiest looking antibody you'll ever meet.' That was all he said before he took off again." Takato couldn't hold back his laughter. Henry too, smiled a little. "Shut up!" Rika yelled. "Why does it matter what he said anyways?"

"Well when I went home to get my Digivice, my dad showed me something on the computer. He had the Digivice hooked up, and was scanning it, trying to figure out what was wrong, when he came across a file in my Digivice that had the same AI programing as the Digimon. He thinks something inside our Digivice has a mind of its own…maybe that's what you saw Rika. But it is really strange that it took the form of a human rather than a Digimon…" Henry puzzled the though around in his head. "Terriermon, do you remember seeing or feeling anything while we were biomerged?"

"I remember feeling hungry..." Terriermon replied, holding his paw to his stomach.

"Terriermon!"

"Momentai Henry. You and I feel and see the same things when we're biomerged, if you don't remember anything, neither do I."

"I guess you're right…what about you Takato? Do you or Guilmon remember seeing anything?" They both shook their heads.

"Everything was normal for us. I didn't feel anything up until that huge electrical surge went through our body." Henry continued to puzzle the thoughts around in his head a little more as he drove into the driveway of his house. After he put the car in park, he opened his door and stepped outside. Everybody followed him as he walked inside of his house.

"Dad? You home?" Henry shouted as he slipped off his shoes.

"Henry! I'm glad you're okay. I'm in my office still." Janyu shouted back. Henry led everybody to his father's office. Upon stepping inside they found Janyu working at his computer. The three Tames approached him at his desk, while the Digimon stayed back towards the door, well except Terriermon, he was sitting on top of Henry's head.

"Hi dad," Henry said, tossing the car keys back to him. They keys landed on the computer desk in front of his father.

"I don't mean to be pushy, but do you mind if I look at your Digivice again? I've been very curious about the program I found earlier, and I'd like to explore it a little."

"We were actually going to ask you about that," Rika said, joining the conversation. "Henry told us that you had found this program, and that you think that something in our Digivice has a mind of its own?"

"Yes that's correct. Any particular reason you ask?"

"Well when I biomerged earlier…something was in there with me. There were Keramon all over the place, and there was this boy that said he was acting like an antibody." Janyu rested his hand on his chin as he thought about what she was saying.

"Hmm…that would make sense. If the Digivice were under attack, it would be natural that it would try to create some kind of program to defend itself. You say that you saw this boy?" Rika nodded her head.

"Yeah, he was the one who told me that he was acting as an antibody."

"The fact that he was able to even communicate with you is incredible. Would you mind if…I took a look at your Digivice on the computer?" Rika unhooked her Digivice from her belt, and handed it to him. Janyu noticed something right away as soon as he looked at it.

"Your Digivice isn't spouting out numbers anymore... it also seems like it's quieted down." The Tamers looked surprised as he spoke.

"I didn't even notice. I was so preoccupied with what was going on, that I didn't even notice my Digivice was back to normal," Henry said looking at his Digivice.

"Well, don't say that it's back to normal because I won't know for sure until I look at its programing again."

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Rika asked impatiently. Takato and Henry sighed as she said it.

"Same old Rika," Takato mumbled. Rika turned and shot a glare at him.

"What was that gogglehead?" Takato stepped behind Henry.

"Nothing, nothing at all," He laughed awkwardly trying to avoid Rika's death glare.

"Hey! Don't use me as a shield!" Henry shouted, throwing Takato back out in front of him. Takato kept trying to step behind him, and he kept throwing him back out in front. Guilmon and Renamon chuckled a little watching their Tamers bicker with each other.

"Hey kids, you might want to check this out," Janyu said excitedly.

"Please dad, we're not kids anymore," Henry replied, approaching his father. Takato and Rika both walked up behind Henry. "What's up?"

"Two things; one, it appears as though the virus is completely gone, and two, look at this," Janyu said, pointing at something on the computer screen. They all scanned the screen but failed to see anything that stuck out as shocking.

"Uhm…look at what exactly?" Takato asked.

"Right here," Janyu removed his finger from the screen and instead moved the mouse cursor over a folder. "This is the folder I was talking about that has the AI program in it. Well when you click on it," He paused to double click on the folder. "It opens up with probably a million different folders inside. Some of them have data in them, and some of them are empty. I can't say for sure why this is, but the thing that caught my attention most was this folder right here. It's easily twice the size of the others, but this folder has an interesting name." As he moved the cursor over the folder, the name entitled 'GUARDIAN' appeared underneath it.

"Guardian? What's that mean?" Henry asked his father.

"I have no idea."

"You should try to open it," Rika suggested. Henry and Takato nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright," Janyu replied. He double clicked the folder and when it opened two more subfolders were revealed. The Tamers gasped in shock when they read the first folder name. 'RIKA' The second file name was 'TATE'

"Wh- why is my name written there?" Rika asked, stumbling over her words.

"And what is that other one?" Takato asked as well. Janyu first clicked on the file that had Rika's name under it. When he tried to open it, he was kicked out instantly, not even getting a glimpse as to what was inside.

"Well that's odd," Janyu mumbled, trying to open it again, but to no avail.

"Why won't it open?" Henry asked.

"I'm not sure. If it had some kind of security on it, it wouldn't even let me open it at all. But it is opening, we're just being kicked out so fast we can't see anything." Janyu replied. He leaned back in the chair to stare at the screen, when the mouse cursor started to move itself. Everyone watched as it slowly moved its way over to the file that read 'TATE'. Once over the file, the cursor stopped, and clicked on it once. Since it was only clicked once, it didn't open it, but just highlighted the name.

"I think something is telling us to open it," Henry said. Takato looked at him and laughed.

"Seriously captain obvious, do you want your medals now or later?"

"Shut up Takato," Henry chuckled back. Rika stepped forward and took hold of the mouse. She double clicked the file, and in a matter of seconds it opened up. When it opened, it opened up a new window that looked like you were talking to somebody via webcam. The space they were looking into was very empty, and very white. It was like they were staring at an empty whiteboard. Before anybody could ask any questions, a message box appeared on the screen.

'Finally!' the message read.

"Finally?" Henry pondered aloud.

"Finally what?" Takato asked.

'It took you long enough. I pretty much had to hold your hand the entire way, which wouldn't be so bad if Rika wasn't the only girl cause two guys holding hands can give off mixed signals.'

"Who's talking to us?" Takato asked again.

'Oh right,' as the message appeared, the screen flickered, and when it came back to normal, there was now a boy on the other end of the window.

"That's him!" Rika hollered, pointing at the screen. The boy smiled as he watched Rika point to him.

'It's me!' Henry, Takato, and Janyu looked to the boy, then to Rika, then back at the boy.

"Incredible!" Janyu mumbled.

"How is he able to talk to us?" Henry asked.

'Simple. Since the Digivice is connected to the computer, I can easily maneuver my way through all of the computer files, gaining access to the keyboard, and the ability to open up a chat window.'

"You! What was going on when I first saw you?! Why were you inside our body?!" Rika yelled at him.

'Well for one you were naked…IM JUST KIDDING DON'T BREAK THE COMPUTER!" The message turned into panic as Rika placed her hands on the side of the monitor.

"WHY YOU!" She yelled, shaking the computer. Henry and Takato quickly pulled her away. "You're lucky you're on that side of the computer!"

'Well…it's funny you say that.'

"And why is that?"

'I hold the answer to a lot of the questions you have…but in order to really explain it all to you I need something from you.'

"Why should we trust you?" Henry asked.

'You have every reason not to, but at this point, where else are you going to go for answers?'

"I don't know…guys, what do you think?" Henry looked to Takato and Rika.

"Well…he did seem to be fighting against the Keramon, and if he was evil I don't think he would've done that, but still…Renamon, what do you think?" Rika turned to Renamon.

"Something about him seems…familiar now that I look at his face. I can't say what, but I think we could trust him." Rika looked back to the computer screen, and at the boy.

"What about you Takato?" Henry asked. Takato put his hand on his chin.

"Well, why don't we at least see what he wants, and then decide what to do from there. What are you thinking Guilmon?"

"I'm thinking about bread, and peanut butter and," Takato turned away from him.

"Well he's helpful…" Takato sighed.

"And fruit, and pizza, and ice cream,"

"And candy, and hot dogs, and chicken," Terriermon now started to join in with Guilmon.

"Oh great, now they're both on a roll…" Henry sighed as he took Terriermon off of his head, and set him down over by Guilmon.

"Oh yeah and rolls! And butter, and honey, and," Guilmon started his list off again, now joined by Terriermon.

"Alright forget them…I like your idea Takato. Let's see what he wants first." Henry looked back to the computer screen.

"So what exactly do you want?" Rika asked annoyed.

'I need you to upload me.' Rika let out a laugh before she spoke.

"You can't be serious! We know nothing about you, and you want us to bring you to the real world?"

"Rika's right, we know nothing about you. Why do you need us to upload you anyway?"

'So I can stop using this keyboard and start speaking with my mouth. This is getting really annoying, it's a lot harder to type these than you think.'

"That's not the only thing that's starting to get annoying…" Rika mumbled.

'Just because I can't talk to you doesn't mean I can't hear you.'

"Oh my sincerest apologies, could you please ever forgive me?" Rika taunted him.

'You better watch yourself Rika…it'd be a shame if something…were to…shock you.' As the message finished appearing on the screen a small jolt of electricity shot out from the computer, shocking Rika on her hand.

"Ow! Why you! Hurry up and Upload him so I can beat him right back into whatever data file he came from!"

'So we're at an agreement?'

"Now hold on!" Henry raised his voice. "We're getting away from the task at hand. I don't know about you, but wanting to be uploaded just to use your mouth rather than type a message? That doesn't sound like a good enough reason to me."

"Henry's right…we'll need more of a reason than that." Takato said.

'Fair enough…I need to be uploaded to the real world to fulfill my role as a Guardian.' The room went quiet for a few seconds.

"…A guardian?" Janyu finally spoke up.

'The file that you found me under was in a file named 'GUARDIAN.' Inside was my name, and Rika's. My name is Tate (Tay-te) which literal meaning in Japanese is shield. I'm the Guardian of the shield, hence the shield on my shirt, and my name. Since I'm inside Rika's Digivice, I'm Rika's Guardian. I can explain it more later, if you decide to upload me.' Renamon's face showed a surprised look as she read the message.

"Of course! That's where I know that face from," Renamon said. The Tamers looked to her, waiting for her to explain. "The legend of the Guardians is famous throughout the Digital World. It tells a story of how ten brave Guardians once fought against a great and powerful Digimon, even more dangerous than the D-Reaper. I don't know a lot of details, but it's said that to stop whatever was attacking, they had to seal themselves, and the evil Digimon away inside the Digital World itself…there were rumors that the Guardians still exist, but that's all they were, were rumors."

"So this guy…is a good guy?" Takato asked slowly. Renamon nodded her head. "So then should we upload him?" Takato looked to Rika and Henry.

"I do have a lot of questions for him…and I'm sure that he has a lot of answers for us…soooo" Rika dragged out her voice as her and Takato looked at Henry.

"We do it?" Henry asked. Takato and Rika nodded their heads. Henry then looked to his father.

"I'll get started right now," Janyu said, staring the upload. "It'll take a couple hours or so, so if you all want to get something to eat, now is the time."

"Hooray!" Guilmon and Terriermon shouted. They started jumping up and down as they heard the happy news.

"Well, what do you say guys, shall we go and get some food?" Henry asked smiling.

"Sounds like a plan to me! Rika?" Takato looked at Rika. She grunted, and folded her arms.

"I guess…you ready Renamon?"

"Of course Rika," Renamon replied, joining Guilmon and Terriermon at the door. As they got ready to walk out of the room, Janyu grabbed onto Rika's arm.

"Hold on a second Rika, he says he wants to talk to you real quick." Rika walked over towards the computer, and looked at Tate. Janyu stood up, and joined his son and Takato out in the living room.

"What is it?" She asked annoyed.

'Just make sure you don't get into trouble, since you won't have your Digivice, you won't be able to Digivolve.'

"I didn't plan on it," Rika turned to walk away, but then stopped and looked back. "Hey, I want to ask you something before I leave."

'What's that?'

"What do you mean, 'you're my Guardian?' I don't need a Guardian. I can take care of myself, and in ugly situations I have Renamon with me to protect me. So don't think that I need you to guard me because I can do that myself." Tate smiled as he looked at Rika.

'I know perfectly well that you can take care of yourself. I didn't say what I was guarding about you, but by the way Takato looks at you, maybe I should guard your virginity :P'

"YOU'RE NOT FUNNY! And an emoticon? Really? Besides, Takato and I are just friends." She looked out the door to Takato, who was laughing with Henry, Terriermon, and Guilmon.

'That's what they all say.' He smiled again at her, as she grunted and left the room. After she was gone, Tate looked around the room and observed that there was nobody there.

'Helloooo?'

'This is going to be a very long upload process so somebody should keep me company!'

'CURSE ME NOT BEING ABLE TO SPEAK. BUT MAYBE IF I WRITE IN ALL CAPS SOMEBODY WILL SE THESE BIG LETTERS AND SPEAK WITH ME.' He waited a few minutes, but nobody came. The Tamers had all left with their Digimon to go and get food, and Janyu was out in the kitchen getting ready for dinner as well.

'DAMN, IT DIDN'T WORK.'

'MAYBE THIS THING HAS SOLITAR ON IT.'

* * *

The Tamers set out to Takato's house, since Takato did promise Guilmon bread they might as well eat there too. Takato was first to walk in through the doors, followed by Guilmon, then everybody else.

"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" Takato shouted. Takato's mother came running through the kitchen, and stopped in front of Takato.

"Takato Matsuki what is this I hear about you skipping class?! You are in big trouble young man! I want you to march up to your room and- oh, hello Henry, hello Rika," Takato's mother stopped her yelling as she noticed the other two behind him, who were standing awkwardly. Takato was slouched down as he laughed awkwardly.

"Hello Mrs. Matsuki," Rika greeted her. "I'm sorry about Takato, it was my fault he skipped class." She batted her eyelashes like a cute school girl.

"Oh that's alright dear! Out of all the reasons, I'm glad it was to be with his girlfriend,"

"MOM?!"

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Takato and Rika yelled at the same time.

"Oh, you're not dating? Well the way Takato talks about you it sure does sound like it!" As Takato's mother kept going on, he was waving his hands frantically trying to get her to stop. "Yeah the way he makes it sound, you two are in love! I'm so proud that my little boy has grown into a fine young man!" Takato was now banging his head against the wall, Henry and Terriermon were struggling not to burst out laughing, and Rika's face was burning a bright red and she was clenching her fists as Takato's mother went on. "And I'm so glad that he picked a girl like you, I mean you're attractive, smart, and all sorts of things! Well I better leave you guys alone, don't want to interrupt anymore! Oh, Takato?"

"…Yes mother?" He groaned in sheer agony.

"Come here real quick please." She motioned her finger to have him come to her. He slowly dragged his feet, and paused when he reached his mom. She leaned her head in close to his, and put her arms on his shoulders.

"If you ever skip school again, I'll make sure to repeat this whole scenario, except next time it will be in front of the entire school. Do I make myself clear young man?" She smiled evilly as she spoke. Takato trembled in fear as the thought of that raced through his mind.

"Y- Yes mother." He replied still shaking.

"Good. Now, have fun," She patted him on the head, and then left the room. Takato slowly turned to face Rika, as her fists were shaking as much as his body.

"Now Rika, I know this looks bad, but give me a chance to explain… You see… uhm… well… My mom may have over exaggerated by a lot! I would never talk about you like that, never in a million years! You're not even that attractive! That came out wrong, I mean not that I don't think you're attractive because you are, but I don't like you like that, I mean I don't think I do, I'm pretty sure I don't but…..uhm….be gentle?" He whined as Rika approached him. She cracked her knuckles as she got closer, and then loosened up her arms.

"GoggleHEADDDDDDDDDD!" She yelled as she let her fist go. She punched him in the face, and then stormed out of the house. Takato fell to the ground from the impact.

"Rika!" Renamon shouted running after her. Not being able to hold it in anymore, Henry and Terriermon both let out their laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Henry dropped onto the ground and started to cry, he was laughing so hard. Terriermon rolled with him with just as much laughter. Guilmon walked to Takato, and extended out his claws.

"Are you okay Takatomon?" He asked. Takato sat himself up, and rested his left hand on his left cheek where Rika had hit him, almost teary-eyed, but not quite.

"Yeah…I'm fine. Rika won't let me ever forget this though, and that, kind of scares me."

* * *

"…Are you sure you're okay Rika?" Renamon asked, standing behind Rika who was sitting in front of a pond at the park.

"I'm fine Renamon. I just…want to be alone for a while. Don't go too far though in case I need you, but just leave me alone for a bit. I'll go back when I feel like it."

"If that's what you want…" Renamon sighed as she disappeared with the wind. Rika sat and looked at her reflection for a while.

"Stupid gogglehead…" She mumbled, tossing a rock that was sitting next to her in the water.

"Who? Me? Or him?" A voice asked, walking up behind Rika. She looked over her shoulder, and to her surprise, saw somebody she didn't expect to see.

"Tate?" She asked confused.

"Aww, so it was me," He laughed.

"No it's- What are you doing here? The upload still has another half hour left."

"Janyu was able to boost the process by closing down some other files in the Digivice."

"Speaking of that, do you have it?" Tate took a seat next to Rika, and looked into the pond to see their reflections.

"We can talk about that later. My question is, what are YOU doing here?" Rika looked away from him, still flustered.

"None of your business." Tate sighed as Rika continued to be stubborn.

"Either we can talk about it now, or I'm just going to find out later when you biomerge." Rika looked to him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well I was hoping to avoid this until everybody was around, but I guess I'll have to explain it twice. You see, when I was inside the Digivice, I used the AI programing I had to act as a living being. Well doing that caused me to gain the power of the Digivice, so every time you biomerge, you take me with you. So I guess what I'm saying is, your Digivice is gone for now, and I'm acting in its place. Just thinking of me as a living breathing Digivice, well not really living or breathing, but close enough. I'm not real, I'm just a bunch of data, much like all the Digimon, but I'm able to act like them. I feel emotions, I can breathe, I can do anything they can do."

"Wait, what?!

"I know, it's confusing. I'll try and explain it better next time, but long story short I'm your Digivice now."

"On a scale of 1-10 that makes 0 sense. How am I supposed to swipe cards, if I don't have anything to swipe them with?"

"See that's the cool part! You don't have to swipe them, you just have to say them! As long as the card is stored somewhere in my memory, you can use it as many times as you want! Anytime you get a new card that I don't recognize, all I have to do is touch it and it's stored in my memory. Unfortunately you still have to shout out 'Digi Modify!' to get it to activate, but I think that's a small price to pay." He laughed as he smiled at her. She looked back to the pond.

"That's…cool. I still don't understand everything, but I'm pretty sure I'll learn sooner or later."

"Thata girl! So, you wanna tell me why you were out here all by your lonesome self? Or am I going to have to dig through your brain," He laughed again as he teased her. She let out a soft smile for a second.

"It's just…boys! Why do they have to be so stupid?! Seriously, can't a girl just have one guy friend who doesn't end up having a crush on her?! First it was Ryo, then it was Kazu, now it's Takato!"

"What about Henry?"

"He doesn't count, he already has a girlfriend."

"Wait, what?! Who?"

"That Jerri girl."

"How do you know this?"

"That bunny of his needs to keep his mouth shut. Remind me never to tell him any secrets."

"Hey Rika?" Rika looked to him, he was looking into her eyes.

"What?"

"Don't tell Terriermon any secrets." Rika laughed as she looked away from him again.

"Shut up gogglehead." She let out another laugh, but then stopped and quickly turned towards him again. "Hey wait! Aren't those Takato's goggles on your head?!" He rolled his eyes to the top of his head trying to look up far enough to see the goggles. After realizing that this was impossible, he simply just took them off.

"You mean these?" He asked, holding them out in front of him.

"Yeah! Those look exactly like Takato's! Why do you have them?"

"Well…let me show you." He took the goggles and tossed them into the lake. Rika was surprised that he just threw them away like that.

"Why did you-" She stopped her sentence when she saw the goggles start to reassemble themselves onto his head. "How did that…?"

"It's part of my program. I can't take them off. No matter how many times I smash them, throw them, stomp on them, attempt to eat them, or burn them with fire, they keep coming back." As he finished his sentence, the goggles had fully reassembled themselves and it was like he never tossed them in the first place.

"But why are they Takato's? If you're going to be a gogglehead, you should at least have your own goggles."

"I agree completely, but…"

"But what?"

"But-" Before he could finish his sentence, the ground started rumbling and shaking violently.

"What's going on?!" Rika shouted, falling backwards on the ground.

"Rika!" Renamon shouted, reappearing behind her, helping her to her feet. Rika looked to Tate who was facing towards the pond, but something about him was different. His eyes were blinking red.

"What's going on with your eyes?" She asked.

"You forget already? I'm your Digivice Rika." It took her a few seconds, but eventually she figured out what he meant. They were blinking red like the Digivice did when an enemy was near. She assumed that wherever the enemy was, it would be in the location of wherever he was facing, and he was looking straight at the pond.


	4. Chapter 3 Tale of the Guardians

Chapter three

Tale of the Guardians

"It looks like we have a friend," Tate said grinning. His eyes were still flashing red as he continued to stare into the pond. He began to crack his knuckles as the water surface started to shake. Renamon stood next to Rika with her hands out like she was taking a fighting stance. Slowly the head of a Digimon started to come out of the water. It kept rising, slowly revealing its body, until at last it was fully emerged. Rika took a step backwards as she stared down the Digimon. She knew who it was.

"It can't be," She mumbled.

"Hello Rika. Surprised to see me?" The Digimon laughed at her.

"IceDevimon…" Rika paused as she continued to look into the eyes of IceDevimon. "I don't know how you managed to survive, but this time I'll make sure you never come back! Renamon?" Rika turned to Renamon who started to rush towards IceDevimon.

"Not this time foxy," The Digimon swung his claw and smacked Renamon away like a fly. Renamon flew backwards, but managed to do a backflip and land on her feet.

"Something is different about him Rika; he's grown a lot stronger." Renamon said standing straight up. IceDevimon laughed as he floated over the water.

"You're going to regret not becoming my partner Rika," He laughed.

"Please, I'd rather die than be partners with you!" Rika yelled back. IceDevimon scowled at her.

"Suit yourself! Die you brat!" IceDevimon launched himself at her at lightning fast speed. Before Rika could do anything, he was in her face, with his claw drawn back behind his head. "Frozen Claw!" IceDevimon shouted. He let his claw come crashing down, but he was stopped just short of her face.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," Tate said. He had appeared by Rika's side, and was grasping the arm of IceDevimon. IceDevimon struggled to get his arm free, but he couldn't. Rika looked to him, confused out of her mind. She also noticed that something was different about him…his eyes now had a yellow glow in them.

"What is this?! There's no way a brat like yourself should be able to stop the force of my attacks!" Tate sighed and then pulled on IceDevimon's arm. He pulled him towards him, and then spun himself around. He raised his foot and landed a roundhouse kick to the face of IceDevimon, sending him flying across the park, and crashing into a tree. Tate looked to Rika, who was staring back at him with her jaw dropped.

"How in the world did you do that?! How did you get from there to here in less than five seconds?! You have some serious explaining to do!" Rika shouted at him. Tate laughed at her reaction.

"I'll explain it later, but right now why don't you take this time to digivolve Renamon. I'd do it quick too, it looks like he's getting ready for round two." Rika grunted and then went to reach for her belt, forgetting that she no longer had a Digivice hooked onto it. "Forget again already?" Tate let out a small laugh.

"Shut up! I'm not used to it yet, I only found out about it a few minutes ago!" Rika snapped back.

"Yeah yeah I know, just do your thing." Tate looked her in the eyes. She started back and then smiled.

"With pleasure. You ready Renamon?" She turned her head to Renamon who started walking towards IceDevimon.

"Always," Renamon replied. Rika looked at IceDevimon who was picking himself up off the ground, and then looked at Tate.

"Let's do it." Tate grinned and nodded his head. "Digi modify! Digivolution activate!" Rika felt weird that she was just shouting out the name without swiping any kind of card. At first she thought she had made a fool of herself, but then Tate started glowing. A beam of light shot out from his body, and was fired at Renamon.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Renamon Digivolve to….Kyubimon!" The nine-tailed fox Digimon let out a growl as she started to run towards IceDevimon.

"Amazing…" Rika mumbled as she watched Kyubimon take off running. Tate turned his head towards Rika.

"It can't be all that amazing, this isn't the first time you've seen her Digivolve." Tate laughed as he spoke.

"It's the first time I've seen her do it without swiping a card." Rika replied. They both turned their attention back to the fight.

"Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon shouted. The fox let out a wheel of fire, and sent it flying towards IceDevimon. IceDevimon managed to slip out of harm's way, but not before the wheel nicked his wing.

"Tundra Freeze!" IceDevimon fired two ice beams out of his eyes. Kyubimon side stepped the beams with ease, causing the ground next to her to freeze over.

"I see your aim hasn't improved," Kyubimon taunted him. IceDevimon grunted in anger as he fired another two beams from his eyes. Kyubimon again dodged them with ease. "Missed me. IceDevimon fired yet another set of beams. Care to guess what happens? Kyubimon dodged them. With ease. "Awww so close." IceDevimon grunted again and then let out a scream.

"I'll kill you all! Avalanche Claw!" His wings spread out as far as they could go, and from them thousands of small icicles shot out in every direction. Kyubimon used the fire from her tails to put up a flaming shield in front of her that melted them before they could get close. Rika and Tate watched as the icicles came flying towards them. Without having time to explain anything, Tate appeared behind Rika.

"Don't punch me," Tate said tossing his arms around Rika's waist. His arms locked Rika's hands to her sides so that she couldn't move.

"What are you doing?!" Rika shouted blushing. She watched as the icicles came closer and closer, and soon they were only inches away. Rika closed her eyes as they began to crash into her. After a few seconds, she opened them back up and watched as the icicles broke as they crashed into her skin. Her body was giving off a little white glow, like somebody was highlighting the edges of her body.

"What's…going on..?" She asked in disbelief.

"Guardian of the shield, remember?" Tate smiled and looked down at her. "I got a few tricks up my sleeve." Rika let out a small chuckle.

"…You can let go of me now," She said trying to wiggle herself free.

"Huh? Oh, right. There we go," Tate removed his arms from her waist, but then soon regretted it. Rika turned quickly and smacked him across the face.

"Owwwwwwww!" Tate whined, placing his hand over the place where Rika smacked him.

"Don't touch me like that ever again, do you hear me?" She snapped.

"Save a girl's life and this is how she repays you…" Tate mumbled quietly.

"What was that?" Rika stepped closer to him.

"Nothing! Hey look! IceDevimon is open for attack!" Tate pointed towards IceDevimon, trying to get the attention off of himself. Rika turned her head back towards Kyubimon and IceDevimon.

"Rika! Are you alright?" Kyubimon shouted from across the park. Rika gave a glare back to Tate, and then back to Kyubimon.

"Yeah I'm fine, but hurry up and get rid of this frozen Digibat so we can leave!" Rika hollered back. Kyubimon turned her attention to the enraged IceDevimon.

"With pleasure." Her tails started to raise one by one, each of them having a small flame attached to them. "Fox Tail…Inferno!" Kyubimon shot the fire from her tails at IceDevimon. The fires collided with IceDevimon's body, knocking him down, and setting him on fire.

"Ahhhh! No! Not again!" IceDevimon shouted, as his body started to dissolve back into data. IceDevimon continued to let out screams as Kyubimon made her way back to Rika and Tate.

"Great job Kyubimon," Rika said, giving Kyubimon a pat on the head.

"Rika! Kyubimon! Tate..?" A voice in the distance was shouting. The three turned their heads to see Takato and Henry running towards them, followed closely by Guilmon and Terriermon.

"Yup. It's me," Tate replied laughing. Takato and Henry looked at each other, and then to Rika.

"Are you guys okay?" Henry asked.

"We're fine. Just taking care of a problem," Rika replied.

"What happened? Our Digivice's went off a little bit ago saying that there was a large Digimon presence emerging, and then the ground started shaking." Takato looked to Rika, waiting for her to answer Henry's question.

"I was sitting here alone trying to calm down," She paused and shot a quick glare at Takato. "When Tate showed and was explaining, well kind of explaining, what happened to him. And then-"

"Wait, what do you mean, 'what happened to him'?" Takato asked, interrupting her. Tate stepped into the conversation now.

"When I was uploaded into the real world, I took the form of Rika's Digivice. Well, more like her Digivice took the form of me. It's confusing, and hard to explain, but the point is I'm acting as her Digivice now."

"How is that possible? I mean, how can she use Digi modify cards if she doesn't have an actual Digivice?"

"That's even more confusing," Rika butted in. "I guess I don't have to swipe them. I just say them, and they happen."

"That's insane…and it actually works?" Takato asked.

"Well, Renamon digivolved didn't she?" Rika replied.

"Good point…that's so cool! I wish my Digivice could walk on two legs! Maybe it'd be a girl too! And a sexy girl on top of that!" Takato started to space out as he let his mind wander off to la la land. Rika, Henry, and Tate all let out a sigh in unison. Rika then turned to Tate.

"You have a lot of explaining to do!" Rika shouted, throwing her finger in his face.

"I do..?" Tate replied sarcastically.

"How were you able to do all of those things that you did? Like how were you able to pretty much teleport from where you were standing, to right next to me in a matter of seconds? And how were you able to stop IceDevimon by grabbing his arm during mid-swing? And how did you protect us from his Avalanche Claw?" Rika fired off question after question.

"Well…you see I-" He was cut off by the ground starting to rumble again, even more violently than earlier.

"Now what?" Henry groaned

"Can I ever finish a sentence?" Tate mumbled.

"I…will not…be…DEFEATED!" A voice shouted. It was clear as to whose voice it was. IceDevimon. His data started reappearing in the same spot where he had been defeated. Rika and Tate looked to each other, and then back to IceDevimon. His body was shaking with anger as he reappeared.

"This time, all bets are off! I don't care what they say, I'm going to kill you all right here!" IceDevimon yelled. His body was being surrounded by what looked like a dark cloud. "Viomerge activate!" The black cloud fused together with his body, causing him to change forms.

"Everyone else heard that right?" Takato asked.

"What do they mean by viomerge? Is it some kind of Digivolution?" Henry asked as well.

"So it's happening again…" Tate mumbled. The three Tamers looked to him confused.

"Wait, do you know what's going on?" Henry asked him.

"Not really, but kind of. Back before I was sealed away, there was a huge war going on in the Digital world. The war between virus Digimon, and pure Digimon. A true battle of good versus evil. The Guardians served as leaders for the pure Digimon, while a group of Digimon known as the Dark Legends led the virus. The virus Digimon were Digimon that hated the fact that they couldn't digivolve on their own, they would do anything to digivolve. They had their program infected with a virus that allowed them to gain unimaginable power, but soon their power came to be too much. It overwhelmed them and caused them to go on a rampage. This virus became known to us as viomerging, merging your program with the virus to gain an enormous power boost. I'm surprised to see that it still exists, I thought it died out when the war ended. I guess not."

"Hey this has been a great history lesson and all, but do you think we can finish this later? Because whatever that thing is, it's headed right at us!" Rika shouted. The others looked to the new Digimon that had been created from the viomerge, and it was indeed heading right at them. Henry quickly pulled out his Digivice, and attempted to scan it.

"SkullSatamon, ultimate level. Special attacks are Nail Bone and Skull Hammer," Henry said looking at his Digivice.

"Skull Hammer!" SkullSatamon shouted. He raised up his staff, and swung it to the ground, aiming towards the Tamers and Tate.

"Takato!"

"Henry!"

"Rika!" All of their Digimon shouted as SkullSatamon crashed his staff on top of them. As the dust settled, the Tamers slowly opened their eyes. They had expected to have been crushed, but to their surprise they were still very much alive.

"Hey…guys…a little…help…" Tate croaked as he tried to keep the staff from smashing into the ground. His feet had been dug into the ground as he held up the staff with just his hands.

"I see what you mean Rika…how in the world did he do that?" Henry asked baffled.

"I have no idea. Maybe he's superman in disguise or something," Rika replied just as amazed.

"Seriously guys…this is freaking heavy…" Take groaned again.

"Kyubimon!" Rika shouted. The fox Digimon rushed up to her.

"Are you alright Rika?" Kyubimon asked worried.

"I'm fine, but we need to help him."

"You too Terriermon!"

"Same with you Guilmon!" The three Digimon acknowledged their Tamers and then let our their attacks.

"Pyro Sphere!"

"Bunny Blast!"

"Dragon Wheel!" The three attacks crashed into SkullSatamon, causing him to get pushed back a little. Tate fell backwards on the ground once the weight of the staff was lifted.

"I'm getting too old for this…" He mumbled.

"You fools! You're only delaying the inevitable!" SkullSatamon shouted at them.

"Henry, this guy is really getting on my nerves," Terriermon growled.

"Then let's take it to the next level," Henry paused and pulled out his Digivice. "Digi modify! Digivolution activate!"

DIGIVOLUTION

"Terriermon digivolve to…Gargomon!" The newly evolved Digimon raced towards SkullSatamon.

"It's our turn! Do it Guilmon! Digi modify! Digivolution activate!" Takato yelled, swiping a card across his Digivice.

DIGIVOLUTION

"Guilmon digivolve to…Growlmon" Growlmon joined Gargomon in the race to SkullSatamon.

"Let's get him Growlmon!" Gargomon said, jumping onto Growlmon's head.

"Okay, if you say so," Growlmon replied.

"Pyro Blaster!"

"Gargo Laser! The two Digimon fired their attacks towards SkullSatamon. They connected with his chest, pushing him back even more. SkullSatamon grunted in anger as the attacks hit him.

While the Digimon were busy fighting, the Tamers made their way over to Tate, who was still lying on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked, kneeling down next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just a little exhausted is all. Tate replied, sounding out of breath.

"I would be too if I stopped a giant Digimon's staff from crushing us…speaking of that, how did you do that?" Takato asked. Tate laughed as he closed his eyes.

"If I had a dollar for every time you guys asked me that question…"

"We keep asking, because it isn't natural. A normal person shouldn't be able to-" Rika was interrupted by Tate.

"I'm not a normal person. I'm not even a person. I'm just a bunch of data. Look at it this way, if it were Growlmon, or Gargomon, or Kyubimon who had stopped the attack, would you question them? Or would you assume it's just because they're strong Digimon?" Tate had opened his eyes again, but he was staring straight up into the sky.

The Tamers looked to each other. He had a point, if it had been one of their Digimon blocking the attack, they would have thought nothing of it.

"We're sorry, I guess we're just curious about what all you can do," Henry said. Tate picked himself up off the ground and smiled at them.

"You don't need to be sorry, if I were in your shoes, I'd be just as curious. I can explain it all later, once we finish this fight." The Tamers smiled back at him, and then turned their attention back to the fight. Growlmon was circling around SkullSatamon shooting fireballs at him, while Gargomon stood on his head shooting at his legs. Kyubimon used her Fox Tail Inferno attack to strike him from a distance. She aimed for his face to disorient him and make it difficult for him to see Growlmon and Gargomon.

"They work really well together," Tate said, watching their Digimon fight.

"When they actually use their heads they can do some pretty neat things," Henry said chuckling a little.

"ENOUGH!" SkullSatamon yelled, releasing a shockwave of energy. The blast knocked Growlmon off of his feet and sent him flying back towards Takato. Gargomon was knocked off his head and fell to the ground. Since Kyubimon was back enough away, she was able to brace herself.

"Nail Bone!" SkullSatamon held up his staff, and a powerful light was shot out from the jewel that was on the end. The light fired off in multiple directions. Some of them split the ground in the park, others went straight up into the sky.

"What's he doing? He's not even close to hitting our Digimon," Henry said.

"The power is overwhelming him," Tate replied. "It's taking over his body little by little, soon he'll be crushed under the weight of his own power."

"Awesome, so now we just…wait?" Takato asked.

"During this state is when he's at his most dangerous. The power has blinded him and he'll just start swinging and smashing until he disappears. In the Digital World it's not so bad, but he could do a lot of damage in the real world. We need to take him out," Tate replied. Rika looked away from Tate, and towards Kyubimon.

"You heard him Kyubimon! Mop the floor with this thing!" Rika shouted. Kyubimon attempted to launch an attack, but she was too busy trying to dodge the attacks of SkullSatamon to successfully get it off.

"Uhg…I can't get close to him to do any damage!" Kyubimon hollered back.

"I have an idea," Takato said pulling out his Digivice. "Digi modify! Matrix Digivolution activate!"

MATRIX

DIGIVOLUTION

"Growlmon matrix digivolve to…WarGrowlmon" The newly emerged Digimon took charge towards the rampaging SkullSatamon. WarGrowlmon used the blades on his arms to cut through the attacks that were being fired at him. When he was close enough, he aimed to grab the staff out of SkullSatamon's hands. He placed his massive claws over the head of the staff preventing it from shooting out anything more.

"Lights out bat boy," WarGrowlmon growled as he crushed the jewel of the staff in his hands.

"Hey I bet this hurts!" Gargomon yelled, smashing the gun on his right hand onto the foot of SkullSatamon. SkullSatamon raised his foot with a yelp of pain.

"You know how the saying goes…the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Dragon Wheel!" Kyubimon let out a wheel of fire that crashed into the other foot of SkullSatamon, causing him to fall down. When he was down on the ground, WarGrowlmon pinned him in his place.

"Say cheese," WarGrowlmon said as the gun ports on his chest began to glow.

"You can't beat me! I refuse to lose again! You will pay, do you hear me?! You will pay!" SkullSatamon tried to get free but WarGrowlmon's grip on him was to powerful.

"Geesh, does this guy ever shut up?" Gargomon mumbled.

"Let's find out. Atomic Blaster!" WarGrowlmon fired two beams out of his chest, engulfing SkullSatamon in flames. His body began to dissolve back into data, and then it all vanished. The three Digimon made their way back to their Tamers before reverting back to their rookie levels. Takato ran up to Guilmon and patted him on the nose.

"Nice job Guilmon! How're you feeling?" He asked smiling.

"I feel…hungry," Guilmon replied happily. Takato sighed, but then smiled once again.

"You JUST ate, how can you be hungry?"

"Takato, I'm always hungry."

"That you are Guilmon, that you are." Takato and Guilmon shared a laugh before turning their attention back to the others.

"If everybody's ready, we should probably leave soon," Tate said.

"He's probably right, we shouldn't stick around here too much longer," Henry said in agreement. Terriermon was now resting back on top of Henry's head as he looked to the others.

"I like Guilmon's plan! Let's go eat! Again!" Terriermon yelled in excitement.

"Seriously?! You too?" Henry replied, shaking his head.

"Momentai Henry, besides Rika and Renamon haven't eaten yet, neither has Tate for that matter." Terriermon smiled at them. Rika let out a little blush as she could feel her stomach rumble a little.

"I- I guess I could eat something," Rika said in her usual snarky voice.

"I don't really mind, I could eat I suppose," Tate said as well.

"Well then it's settled, let's go find someplace to eat. If you don't mind though, I'd rather we don't go back to my house…" Takato said, turning away from Rika.

"My dad is the only one home at my house for the weekend, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we ate there," Henry implied.

"With all the commotion going on, I completely forgot today was Friday! That means no school tomorrow!" Takato yelled happily.

"Ahhhh I remember going to school, such a pain if you ask me…but it's true what they say, you don't really miss it until it's gone." Tate said staring off into space. The Tamers looked to him.

"What did you say?" Henry asked. Tate snapped back to reality as he realized what he'd said.

"It's nothing. Come on, we should go." Tate began to walk away from the Tamers, and towards Henry's house. They all looked to each other, and then began to follow Tate.

Tate remained quiet the rest of the trip. Takato and Guilmon were conversing about how they were going to spend their weekend, Rika was trying to explain to Henry what Tate had explained to her, Terriermon actually stayed quiet for once, resting on Henry's head, and Renamon walked silently as always. When they got to Henry's house, Henry was the first one to step inside.

"Dad? I'm back!" Henry shouted, slipping off his shoes. His father was sitting at the dinner table in the kitchen, sipping a cup of coffee and reading some kind of journal.

"Welcome back," His father replied taking a drink of his coffee. Henry walked into the kitchen and met eyes with his fathers.

"Takato, Tate, and Rika are here too. Some of the guys are hungry, so is it fine if they eat here?" Henry asked his dad.

"Sure! I just got done having dinner myself, I have a little left over that's free to anybody who wants it. It's not anything fancy, just some soup, but by all means take as much as you want," Janyu replied. He stood up out of his chair and went over to the fridge. He opened it up and pulled out the pot that had the leftover soup in it. He set it down by the oven and tore off the plastic wrap that he had put on it.

"It shouldn't take but a few minutes to heat up, so you can go ahead and take a seat in the living room if you want and I'll let you know when it's ready," Janyu told them.

"Thanks dad," Henry replied. He walked out of the kitchen and motioned the rest of them to follow him. He led them to the living room, and took a seat on the couch. Takato sat down next to him, along with Guilmon. Rika and Renamon sat on the couch directly across from them, and Tate sat down on the floor by the glass table that was placed between the two couches. He was staring out the large window that had almost a perfect view of the park. He turned his attention from outside back to the Tamers. He glanced at Rika first, and then to Henry and Takato.

"Well, now is as good a time as any for questions," Tate sighed. "What do you wanna know first?"

"Why don't we start from the beginning, and then maybe most of our questions will be answered. Early you were telling us a little about some kind of war that took place in the Digital World, why don't you continue on from there," Henry suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Rika said as well. Takato didn't say anything, he just nodded his head.

"Fair enough. Well, as I said before, the war was between the pure Digimon and the virus Digimon. The Guardians were named leaders of the pure, and the Dark Legends named leaders of the virus. Countless battles were fought, but for the longest time nothing changed. Not until the final battle, where all Dark Legends gathered together. Naturally, all of the Guardians, including myself, were there too. The Dark Legends used the power of viomerging to Digivolve into states that far surpassed Megas. Their power was incredible, far too strong for any of us to handle. We figured that if we waited long enough, the virus would do to them what it did to the others, but nothing happened. They had somehow figured out how to keep their power under control. Staring death in the face, us Guardians had no choice but to unleash our power as well. Each of the ten Guardians had some kind of ability that affected whatever it was they were the Guardian of. For example, I had the ability to shield my allies from every attack, practically making them invincible. Unfortunately though, my power wasn't fully developed, and I couldn't produce the shield over myself while simultaneously producing it over others. It was one or the other, not both. But back in the day, I didn't care. I was strong enough to handle myself, even without my shield."

"So that's what that was earlier…" Rika mumbled.

"Exactly…unfortunately my power isn't what it used to be, causing it so I can't project my shield from long distances. Close range is fine, but by close range I mean close. I have to be touching them, which is why…yeah you get it." Rika nodded her head.

"Just…give me a warning next time. It was kind of creepy having you just show up behind me like that."

"No promises," Tate laughed before continuing. "Anyways, with our powers being unleashed, we were at an equal standing with the Dark Legends. The battle between us went on for days, with neither side making progress. Unable to keep our powers going anymore, we were forced to make a decision. We had to take down the Dark Legends, no matter the cost. We gathered all of our power together, attempting to make some kind of bomb. The blast would kill anything that got in its path, but right as we got ready to detonate it, something happened to the Dark Legends. Their power had finally run out, and they were reverted back to their normal forms. Unable to produce the strength to move, they fell to the ground beaten and defeated. At first we celebrated, but then we got to thinking. That was too easy…and of course. We were right. The Dark Legends dissolved themselves into data and merged together to create one massive Digimon, or at least we thought it was a Digimon. Whatever it was, it destroyed everything it touched. The Digimon that fought with us were being ripped apart by this thing. The bomb we had planned to use to take down the Dark Legends would no longer be enough to take down this new enemy. We had to think of something else, and quickly. We didn't have a lot of time. Without giving a second thought, nine of us rushed the evil Digimon. We grabbed onto the Digimon and began to dissolve our bodies, merging our power to bring the enemy down with us. We drug him down inside the Digital World, and sealed ourselves away. In order to make sure that whatever this thing was would stay down there, we made it so that it would be impossible to get to. The power the Guardians once had would be used to make keys that would be scattered throughout the Digital World." The Tamers weren't sure what to say, all of this new information was rather puzzling to them.

"Wow…so many questions…where to begin…" Henry mumbled.

"You said that there were ten Guardians, but only nine helped you take down whatever that Digimon thing was? What happened to the other one?" Rika asked.

"We don't know…he was with us every step of the way until the final part. I don't know what happened to him, but he somehow just up and disappeared. Some of us assumed that maybe he had died, but others think that he ran away."

"What about the keys? Can't somebody just go out and gather them?" Henry asked.

"They could if they want, but the gate will only open to a Guardian. Each one of the keys that were created represents a quality of a Guardian, and will only react to one as well. If I could find the key that was created from my body, I'm positive that it'll return all of my power. Unfortunately, I have no idea where in the Digital World it is."

"Well, what do they look like?" Takato asked him. Tate stood up off the floor and walked over to the window. He looked outside for a few seconds before answering.

"Tell me…what do you know about the nine crests?"


End file.
